Diversified Trust Co Increases Stake in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 175.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,711 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 18,301 shares during the quarter. Diversified Trust Co's holdings in Welltower were worth $4,399,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Welltower by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 98,295,258 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $12,388,151,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,044 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,096,408 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,674,826,000 after buying an additional 318,496 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Welltower during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,943,892,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Welltower by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 18,706,788 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,357,617,000 after acquiring an additional 1,652,611 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Welltower by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,782,795 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,989,106,000 after acquiring an additional 1,354,231 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company's stock.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of Welltower stock opened at $153.57 on Friday. Welltower Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.97 and a 1 year high of $158.55. The firm's 50-day moving average is $150.40 and its 200 day moving average is $143.43. The stock has a market cap of $100.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.26, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 4.23 and a quick ratio of 4.23.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.05. Welltower had a net margin of 12.65% and a return on equity of 3.41%. The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Welltower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 154.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WELL has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Welltower from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Wedbush reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $163.75.

About Welltower

Welltower Inc NYSE: WELL, a real estate investment trust ("REIT") and S&P 500 company headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, is driving the transformation of health care infrastructure. Welltower invests with leading seniors housing operators, post-acute providers and health systems to fund the real estate infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people's wellness and overall health care experience.

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